Elevator door operator



March 18, 1941. Q RADEEFF 2,235,384

ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATOR Filed Jan. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /2' j I /Z WITNESSES: INVENTOR March 1941- 'A. c. RADEEFF ELEVATOR DOOR OPERATOR Filed Jan. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/II/IIIIIIIIIIII. r1 r111. ill/111111111111) h- INVENTQR BY/f' m ATTO NEY latented Mar. 18, 1941 UN IT BE IS ELEVATOR-DOOR OPERATOR Andrew C. Radeeff, Jersey City, N..J., assigncr to WestinghouseElectric Elevator Company, Jersey City, N. 1., a corporationof Illinois Application lanuary 10, 1940, Serial No. 313,241

5 Claims.

My invention relates to elevator door operators and, more particularly, to operators for elevator doors having anupper 'doorsection and a lower door section vertically and oppositely movable on a pair of guides by a pair of flexible connectors.

One object of the invention is to provide a master operator for vertically sliding elevator doors by means of which one motor mounted on the car may be utilized to simultaneously open or close both the car door or gate and-the'hatchway door at the floor where the car is stopped.

Another object is to provide a master operator for vertically sliding elevator doors and cargates which may be easily and economically manufactured, installed, and maintained in operation.

Another object is to provide a'master door operator in which a motor on the car may be used for opening a horizontally slidable door on a car and a vertically slidable door on the hatchway opening,

A further object is to provide an operatorfor vertically movable elevator doors and car gates in which the application of power'to raise or lower the car gate may be applied in a horizontal direction'to effect the raising or lowering of the hatchway door at which the car may be stopped.

A still further object'is to' provide a door operating system for elevator doors in which the operation of the vertically movable car gate may effect, by means of a horizontally traveling clutch, a corresponding movement of any ver-' tical hatchway door at which the car may be i stopped.

Other objects of the invention will beapparent from th following description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure'l is a topplan view, partly in section, of an elevator door operator embodying my invention asv installed at a landing at which a car is stopped;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the hatchway door and its operating mechanism, taken along the line II'-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view'in front elevation of part of the car gate operating mechanism, taken along the line III-I1I of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation of the traveling clutch-mounted on the car for operating the hatchway door, taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5-is a left-hand-end view of thedoor operating 1 mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1;' and Fig. 6 is a right-hand end'v-iew of the operator illustrated in'Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have illustrated a portion ofan elevator carC as disposed opposite a floor landing ll represented by the hatchway wallsl2 of an elevator hatchway having aplurality of floor landings.

The hatchway opening ll'isprovided with a hatchway door I3 comprising an upper section [4 and a lower section limounted upon a pair of verticalguides It and H by means of a plurality of guide clips 18. The-door is of the counterbalancingtype in which the doorsections 1 move vertically and oppositely upon the guides when the door'is being opened or closed. The means for connectingthe door sections for the counterbalanoing operation comprises a pair of flexible chain or cable connectors '20 and 2!, the inner ends of which arefastened to a clevis 22 and a c1evis'23 attachedto clips 24 and -2 5 mounted-on the lower outside edges of the upper door section [4. The center portion of the cable '20- passes over a first hatchway balancing sheave 26 to where its outer" end is attached by means port 35 mounted on a pair of angleirons 3E5'and T tfiarse cured to-the hatchway door' fr-ame 31 in any suitablemanner. Each rim of the sheave 3b is provided with gear teeth'by means of which it may be driven and itisrotatably mounted-on the end of a shaft38 disposed inthe right'end of the channel iron 35.

With this construction, it willbe seen that the doors are suspended on the sheaves bythe flexible connectors, which may be either cables or chains,

and that the weight of the upper door section I tends to counterbalance the weight of the lower door section. Hence, by rotating the sheaves the connectors may be caused to move the door sections in opposite directions to either close or open the door.

Although I have illustrated only one hatchway door at one landing of an elevator, it is to be understood that similar doors and operating mechanisms. may be installed at the otherland- .ings .of the' elevator.

The car is provided with a door or gate 39 comprising an upper section 49 and a lower section 4| (Figs. 1, 5 and 63) mounted on a pair of vertical guides 42 and 42a by means of a plurality of guide clips 43. The car door is of the counterbalanced type in which the door sections move vertically and oppositely upon the guides when the door is being opened or closed. The means for connecting the car door sections for their counterbalanced operation comprises a pair of flexible chains or cable connectors 44 and 45, the inner ends of which are fastened to clevises 46 and 41 attached to clips 48 and 49 mounted on the lower inside edges of the upper door section. The center portion of the cable 44 passes outwardly over a first car sheave 50 to where its outer end is attached by a clevis 5| to the outer end of a bar 52 (Figs. 5and"6=') secured to the upper edge of the lower section 4| of the car door or gate. The middle portion of the cable 45 passes outwardly over a second car sheave 54 to where its outer end is attached by a clevis 55 to the right-hand end of the bar 52.

By this construction, it will be seen that the sections of the car door are suspended on the sheaves by flexible connectors so that the Weight of the upper section will counterbalance the weight of the lower section. Hence, by rotating the sheaves, the connectors or cables may be caused to move the car door sections in opposite directions to either open or close the door.

The means for rotating the car sheaves to open or close the car door comprises a motor 60 mounted on the top of the car. The shaft 6| of the motor is provided with a pinion 62 for driving a sprocket chain 63 which passes around a sprocket Wheel 64 fixed on a shaft 6 5 also mounted on the top of the car by means of a pair of bearings 66. A pinion 6! smaller than the sprocket wheel 64 is fixed on the shaft 65 to drive a chain 68, the outer end of which passes around a sprocket wheel 69 fixed on a shaft 19, rotatably mounted in a pair of horizontal metal channel plates H and 12. The arrangement of these sprocket wheels, pinions and chains provides a speed reducing means which permits the use of a small high speed motor for opening and closing the doors. The channel plates are seated on a pair of angle irons l3 and 14 secured to the top of the car and extending out over the edge of the car in position to support the car door operatingmechanism.

A gear wheel 16 is fixed on the shaft 10 in position to engage and drive an upper gear wheel 11 fixed to a shaft 18 rotatably mounted in the left end of the channel plate 1|. A sprocket wheel "l9 is fixed to the shaft 18 to be driven by the gear rotates the gear wheel 73 which operates the gear wheel 11 and thereby rotates the sprocket wheel 19 to cause the chain 89 to drive the sprocket wheel 8| in an opposite direction, which rotates the shaft 82 thus rotating the sheave 54 in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of the sheave 59. The rotation of the sheaves in the directions represented by the arrows 84 and 85 (Fig. 4) will cause the upper car door section 40 to be raised and the lower car door section 4| to be lowered, while rotation of the sheaves in the reverse direction will cause the upper car door section 40 to be lowered and the lower section 4| to be raised thereby closing the car door gate.

A clutch for causing the hatchway sheaves to operate the hatchway door in synchronism with the car door or gate is illustrated as comprising a driving block or carriage mounted on the car and a. drive block or carriage 9| mounted on the hatchway channel iron. The carriage 99 (Fig. 4) comprises a frame 93 supported upon a pair of wheels or rollers 94 which travel on a horizontal track rail 95 mounted in the lower part of the channel iron 12. A grooved roller or wheel 95 is disposed in the upper part of the frame 93 to engage an upper guide rail 91, likewise mounted on the channel iron 12, for th purpose of guiding and maintaining the carriage 90 in an upright position. A sprocket chain 98 i disposed around a sprocket wheel 99 and .a sprocket idler wheel I00 with its ends secured to the ends of the frame 93. The sprocket wheel 99 is fixed on the shaft 10 and the idler wheel I00 is mounted rotatably on channel plate I2. Hence, when these shafts are rotated by the motor 69 to open the car door, the sprocket wheels 99 and H10 are rotated in the direction of the arrows 84 and 85 to move the carriage 93 in a horizontal line to the right along the track rail 95. An arm or vane I03 is mounted on the outer face of the driving carriage 90 for operating the driven carriage 9|. The vane is disposed at right angles to the outer face of the carriage and extends a short distanc above and below the carriage, so that it may operate the drive carriage even though the car may not be quite level with the floor landing. However, it will be obvious that if the car is more than half the length of the vane away from the floor, the vane will not open the hatch door, thus providing an additional safety factor.

The driven carriage 9:! (Fig. 2) comprises a frame I05 supported on a pair of rollers I06 in position to ride on a horizontal rail |0'| mounted in the lower part of the channel iron 35. A grooved wheel or roller |01a is mounted in the upper part of the frame in position to engage a guide rail |08 mounted on the channel iron 35 for maintaining the carriage in a vertical position. The carriage 9| is provided with projectmg arms I09, H0 which form a vertical slot HI disposed to receive the vertical vane I03 on the carriage 90 when the car is opposite the hatchway door Opening H. The slot IN is slightly wider than the vane I03 so that the vane may move vertically through it without touching its walls when the car moves up and down the hatchway without stopping at the door-way A sprocket chain |l|3is disposed over a pair of sprockets H4 and II 5 and around an idler sprocket H 6 with its ends secured to the frame I 05. The sprocket H6 is rotatably mounted on the channel iron 35 and its position may be adjusted to control the tension of the sprocket chain. The sprocket wheel H4 is fixed on the shaft 34 on which the hatchway sheave 26 is fixed, hence the sheav 26 will rotate with the sprocket wheel H4.

:The sprocket wheel H5 is fixed on one end of a shaft H l rotatably mounted in the channel iron 3-5. v A gear wheel H8 is fixed on the other end of the shaft I! to rotate with the sprocket wheel Ill 5. The teeth of the gear wheel 8 are disposed to engage the cooperating gear teethcut in the rims of the hatchway door sheave 30,-so that rotation ofthe gear wheel I I5 .will. cause rota-tionotf the sheave 30. The double gearwheel construe tion of the wheel I-IB and'the sheavetfl is utilized for the purpose of conserving space, it being easier'to get .a good driving connection between theuthin'gear wheels on both sides of the groove centers oi'the sheave '30 and the gear wheel H8 than it is-to use a-large gear on only one side of the sheave. In order to conserve furthelr'the size of the door operator, the shaft I II, the'sprocket H5 and the gear wheel I'I8 are'mounted somewhat below and 'tothe right of the sheave 39, in which position the cable 2 trunsover the sheave 3B and in around the inner face of the groove in floor and the motor 60 is energized, the shafts 1i] and *82 will rotate, which, in turn, will rotate the sheaves 5i! and 54 to open the car door sections '40 and M. The rotation of the shafts I and82 Will also rotate the. sprocket wheels 99 and I0!) thus causing the chain 98 to move'the carriage, 9G in horizontal direction to the right. With the car at the floor, the vane I03 is in the slot III. Consequently, the horizontal movement to'the right of the vane causes it to impinge against the projecting arm H0 and move the carriage 9| to the right. This movement of the carriage 9| operates the driving chain H3 in the direction of the arrow I23 thereby rotatingthe sprocket wheels H and H4 in the direction of the arrows. I24. This direction of rotation causes the shafts34 and M1, on which these sprocket wheels are mounted, to rotate in the same direction, thus rotating the. sheave 25 .and thegear wheel H8 in the same direction. The rotationof the gear wheel I I8 in the direction of the arrow I25 causes the sheave 39 to rotate in the direction of the arrow I25. Thus the rotation of-the sheave 26 in the direction of the arrow I24 and the rotation of the sheave so in the direction of the arrow I25 causes the upper panel I4 of the hatchway door to rise and the lower panel I5 to drop to the level of the door sill, thus opening the hatchway door, at the same time that the rotation of the shafts Til and 82 causes the sheaves 5i) and 54 to raise the car door panel 40 and to lower the car door panel 4|, thus opening the car door.

When it is desired to close the car door and the hatchway door, the motor 60 is reversed to rotate the car door sheaves 5B and 54 for the closing direction and at the same time move the carriage 90 from the right-hand side to the lefthand side of the door opening. This right to left movement of the carriage 95 causes the vane I83 to engage the projecting arm It!!! on the driven carriage 9| and thereby move that carriage to the left, thus hauling the sprocket chain I I3 around the sprocket wheels IM and I I5. This operation of the sprocket wheels IM and II 5 reverses the direction of operation of the sheaves 26 and 38, thus lowering the panel I4 and raising the panel I5 of the hatchway door and thereby closing the hatchway door simultaneously with the closure of the car door.

A hatchway door operating mechanism similar to the one illustrated .and described maybe installed at each door in an elevator shaft represented -by-thewalls"l2 and the slot and vane ;construction on the driving carriage and the driven carriage will permit the car to run up anddown the elevator shaft when-the hatchway doorsare closed without the vane engaging the drivingarms.

gate onthe car'may'beoperated with a horizontally sliding-hatch 'door'by simply attaching the drive-arms, directto the hatch doorinstead of mounting them on the driven carriage. Furthermore, a horizontally slidable door may be usedon the car and vertically slidable door panels used for the hatch door.

'By the foregoing description, it will be seen that Ihave provided an improved elevator door operator which requires only a single motor tive whenever the car stops at a floor even though it'is, not exactly level with the floor at 'whichrit stops. 'The system is particularly applicable for use in. operating the car gates and hatchway doors of large freight elevators, but it may be used wherever vertically movable doors are desired.

Although Iv have illustrated and described only ,one specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood. that changes therein. and modificationsthereof may be made without departing from the spirit, and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. man elevator system having a car serving a hatchway landing, a vertically movable door at the hatchway landing, a vertically movable door on the car, a motive means mounted on the car, and means responsive to operation of the motive means on the car for vertically moving the car door and the hatchway door when the car is stopped at the hatchway door.

2. A door operating mechanism for a vertically slidable door on a car and a vertically slidable door on a hatchway served by the car, comprising a motor on the car, a driving block on the car, means responsive to operation of the motor for vertically moving the car door and for horizontally moving the driving block, a drive block mounted at the hatchway door in position to be engaged by the driving block'and moved horizontally when the car stops at the floor and opens its door, and means responsive to the horizontal movement of the drive block for vertically moving the hatchway door.

3. In an elevator system, a car for serving a floor landing in a hatchway, a vertically slidable door at the floor landing, a vertically slidable door on the car, a driving block on the car, a plurality of flexible connectors and wheels connected to the car door and the driving block, a motor on the car for operating the connectors and wheels to move the car door in a vertical direction and to move the driving block in a horizontal direction, a driven block associated with the hatchway door and disposed to be engaged and moved horizontally by the driving block when it is operated by the motor while the car is at the floor, and a plurality of wheels and flexible connectors connecting the driven block and the hatchway door to cause vertical movement of the hatchway door when the driven block is moved horizontally.

4. In an elevator system having a car operative in a hatchway, a door on the car having an upper section and a lower section vertically and oppositely movable on a pair of guides by a pair of flexible connectors disposed over a pair of car sheaves to close an opening in the car, a hatchway door having an upper section and a lower section vertically and oppositely movable on a pair of guides by a pair of flexible connectors disposed over a pair of hatchway sheaves to close an opening in the hatchway, a motor mounted on the car, means responsive to operation of the motor for rotating the car sheaves to operate the car door, a pair of car carriage driving wheels mounted on the car, means responsive to operation of the motor in operating the car door for operating the carriage wheels, a flexible driving member disposed around the car carriage driving wheels and operated thereby, a horizontal track mounted on the car, a car carriage disposed on the track between the car carriage wheels and attached to said flexible driving member whereby operation of the motor causes the carriage on the car to be moved in a horizontal direction, a horizontal track mounted at the hatchway door, a carriage mounted on said track, a pair of hatchway power wheels for rotating the sheaves to operate the hatchway door, a flexible driving member disposed around the hatchway power wheels and attached to the hatchway carriage to cause rotation of the hatchway door wheels when the hatchway carriage is moved along its track, and cooperating members on the hatchway carriage and the car carriage disposed to engage each other when the car is at the hatchway door and the motor is energized for causing the car carriage to move horizontally and thus move the hatchway carriage horizontally to efiect operation of the hatchway door simultaneously with the car door.

5.. In an elevator system having a car operated in a hatchway, a door on the car having an upper sectionand a lower section vertically and oppositely movable on a. pair of guides, a frame on the car, a pair of rotatable shafts mounted on the frame, a motor for rotating the shafts, a pair of car sheaves mounted on the shafts, a pair of flexible connectors disposed over the car sheaves and connected to the car door sections for opening and closing the same when the motor is operated, a horizontal track on the car, a drive carriage disposed on the track, a pair of sprocket wheels mounted on the outer ends of the shafts, a flexible connector disposed around the sprocket wheels and connected to the drive carriage for moving it in a horizontal direction when the motor operates the car sheaves to open or close the car door, a hatchway door having an upper section and a lower section vertically and oppositely movable on a pair of guides attached to the hatchway, a track mounted at the hatchway door, a carriage mounted on the hatchway track, a pair of horizontal shafts mounted at the hatchway door, a pair of hatchway sheaves mounted on said hatchway shafts, a pair of flexible connectors disposed over said hatchway sheaves for raising or lowering the hatchway door sections, a hatchway sprocket wheel mounted on one of the shafts carrying one of the hatchway sheaves, a third shaft mounted at the hatchway door, gearing means mounted on said third shaft for engaging and operating the hatchway sheave on the other of said hatchway shafts, a hatchway. sprocket wheel mounted on said third shaft, a flexible connector disposed over said hatchway sprocket wheels and connected to said driving carriage whereby operation of the driving carriage moves the hatchway door sections, and clutch means for connecting the drive carriage on the car with the driving carriage at the hatchway door when the car stops at the hatchway door to thereby cause operation of the hatchway door sections with operation of the car door sections.

ANDREW C. RADEEFF 

